


the star that shines the brightest

by dimasilaw



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Love Confessions, Stargazing, Subaru gets flustered, at least the alignment is justified sorry the spacing isn’t 1.5, awkward finger guns, i think it’s fluff idk, im sorry for not indenting the paragraphs idk how to format that, kind of, my english teacher would be disappointed, subanzu gang where u at
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 10:52:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19392634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimasilaw/pseuds/dimasilaw
Summary: Subaru and Anzu go stargazing and talk about their feelings.





	the star that shines the brightest

“Thanks for coming stargazing with me, Anzu!” Subaru faces her, smiling from ear-to-ear as they lie next to each other on the field’s bed of luscious, dewy grass. He can’t believe how lucky he is to be here with his favourite (well, only) producer.

“Ah...it’s no problem! You were right. This place really is so much more beautiful at night,” Anzu replies.

Subaru thinks she’s beautiful at night, too. Her thin-lipped smile sparkles and leaves him breathless. Though her eyes mirror his own, looking in them is surreal to him—they almost seem to shimmer, like a pair of warm, blue stars adorning the night sky.

“Er...yeah!” He isn’t really sure what to say. When she smiles at him, he forgets his own name, where he’s from, what school he attends, and—oh God, what’s 1 + 2, wait, no, hold on, Subaru, focus. He’s just going to keep blabbering on and praying Anzu listens through it. “This is my favourite spot to just lie down, just me and my thoughts, ya know? The stars are so shiny! I just...I just love looking at them. They really are so bright like that, and it’s so...it’s pretty! And—“

“Yeah, I know.” She giggles. Moonlit blades of grass rustle with the soft wind that snakes through smooth strands of her long, chestnut hair. And then, she sighs. “Ah...it’s very nice to be out here with you tonight, Subaru-kun.”

He glances at his orange rubber wristwatch. It’s midnight. He should be asleep so he’ll be well-rested enough to get up for school in a few hours, but that isn’t important right now. As long as he can have Anzu just to himself, just for one night. And—“As long as you can take a break from working, Producer!”

“I really wish I had more work to do...”

Subaru rolls over on his side to get a little bit closer to her. “You’re already so kind and hardworking with us, though! I can’t even begin to imagine what sort of stress you’re under...producing so many units at once. You’re a super industrious girl, Anzu. It makes me admire you.“

Just saying that gives him butterflies in his stomach. His heart races and he can hear it beating in his head. He’s in a daze, and his stare at Anzu is almost empty. His thoughts are rushing, and all he can think of is Anzu, Anzu, Anzu. Diligent, snappy Anzu. Shy and quiet, yet loving and honest Anzu. Heart-stoppingly beautiful Anzu, with the smooth chocolate hair and the shiny blue eyes and the smile that sparkles like a thousand constellations. Just Anzu. Anzu, Anzu, Anzu—

“Well, I suppose you’re right. It is nice to just relax here.” She turns on her side to face Subaru as well. “I’m glad I get to rest with you here.”

The backs of their hands brush against each other with a brisk, ethereal tenderness. Skin to skin, as light as a feather...and it makes Subaru go beet-red. His cheeks feel like they’re on fire, and he just hopes Anzu won’t notice how badly he’s blushing. He can feel his mouth twist into a broad smile, almost of its own accord. All he can hope is that it sparkles just as much as Anzu’s smile. He can feel himself melting at her tender gaze. He just hopes she can feel it too.

Anzu rolls over again, flat on her back. Shyly, she locks pinkies with Subaru, sending a quick jolt across his body. But he accepts, and locks his pinky tight with hers. He glances at her as she closes her eyes and sighs deeply.

“That star sure is beautiful, isn’t it? It sparkles so brightly, and refuses to dim or fizzle out,” she says, with a quiet sense of brilliance and understanding.

Subaru thinks it’s his time. He has to go for it. Okay. Breathe in, breathe out. One, two, three—no, no, he’s shaking. He can’t. No, but he has to. Okay, okay. Let’s go.

Subaru takes a sharp breath.

“Which star? You...you mean the one lying down beside me?” he says, his voice trembling. “She sure is dazzling.”

Then silence. Dead air. The only noise to be heard is the rustling of the grass and the gentle blow of the wind. Almost as though the world stopped turning. But Subaru’s mind is frantic. Did he say the right thing? Was he taking it a step too far? Is she mad? He just can’t read her expression. Her eyes sparkle just the same, but her smile has fizzled out. Blank. Silent. Empty.

“No, no,” Anzu replies. Sparks return to her smile, Subaru notes. “That’s not it.”

“Huh?”

“I meant the one lying down beside _me_.”

A shock runs through Subaru. He sits up with a jerk. “Hold on. What do you mean?” The same burning feeling returns to Subaru’s cheeks once more with the heat of a thousand flames. Just as he had thought he managed to fluster her, she returned the favour. His mind continues its short-circuit racing, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

“You’re a beautiful star, too. So beautiful, it leaves me breathless,” she says.

What is he supposed to say? Big mood? Hard same? Heck yeah? He has to physically restrain himself from doing finger-guns at her. Um...

“Yeah! Well, you’re...uh...you’re beautiful-er. Um. More beautiful! There! That’s the word.” As he speaks, she giggles. His heart is full. “Listen! Uh, what I wanted to say, um...well, okay—”

His plan of being smooth shatters into thousands of little pieces. “You can do it!” she says.

And now, his heart is so full it’ll burst any moment now. “I, er...I like you! I like you a lot! And I greatly appreciate you for all that you are! Uh...you’re hardworking? And um...your smile...I like seeing it...it’s, um, your smile is contagious! Yeah, contagious. Like a cold. Anyway, did you hear about the first year who caught a cold? Yeah, he had to—“

“You really don’t have to ramble to bury your first point. It’s okay. I heard you!”

He buries his face in his hands, and pulls his legs up toward him. His body is stiff. All there is, right now, for him, is Anzu. Just him, Anzu, and the stars. But he can’t bring himself to speak.

She sits up slowly to a cross-legged position, and rests a soft hand on his shoulder. He jumps just a little bit, but relaxes at her touch. And he falls, gently. His hands fall into his lap as his legs sweep comfortably to his side. He rests his head on her shoulder and nuzzles the crook of her neck. It’s a comforting position. And he wishes they could stay like that forever.

“Um...I feel the same way about you, if that’s of any help,” she says.

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Then silence again. Dead air. Subaru’s mind remains frantic, scrambling for the right words to say. He wonders if he’s just killed the conversation. Did he make it _that_ awkward? She isn’t even speaking. But what is there to be said...? He would say something, but he’s so comfortable, just like this. So simple. She runs her hand up and down Subaru’s shoulder and upper arm and leans her head against his. Sparks are flying everywhere.

“Do...do...do you want to do this again tomorrow?” he asks meekly. “Then...then... uh, then maybe we can talk about this some more, you know? And we can watch those pretty stars again.”

“Hm...maybe not tomorrow. I think I’ll be busy. How about Tuesday?”

“Tuesday? Yeah. Tuesday’s good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Then silence once again. Dead air. But his mind is calm. He knows what he’ll say. He looks up at her from his spot on her neck, and speaks.

“The stars really are beautiful. But I wish they would shine as brightly as your smile.”

“But you’re the star that shines the brightest.”

He hides himself in the crook of her neck again. And his face burns with the same heat, but this time, it’s soft. Comforting. “You’re making me blush again, Anzu.”

She laughs. “I hope to make you blush a thousand times over, then.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first serious fic ever and i cringed several times while writing it but i really enjoyed!!
> 
> thank you jay for introducing me to this ship and for beta-ing for me, i am eternally grateful
> 
> yall probably arent gonna read this but thank you @ Ohana Famsquad Cult of Cthulhu for validating me and listening to me scream i love yall cultists salamatz
> 
> and @ peach + thea + kei salamatz din kinilig ako sa kuwento niyo it rly helped


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